killing time ('25)
one act opera
written in 2021
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
PRISONER
A woman in the middle of her life—old enough to have a past, but young enough for death to seem premature
GUARD
A woman in her early to late thirties, slightly younger than the Prisoner—she is tough and plain spoken
EXECUTIONER
A woman approximately the same age as the Prisoner—professional and bureaucratic
SETTING
The opera is set in an austere execution chamber somewhere in 21st century America. In the room there is a chair and a phone.
TREATMENT
The Prisoner, the Guard, and the Executioner are all in the execution room. The Guard reads off a checklist of items needed for the execution to the Executioner. The checklist includes the drugs needed for completing the lethal injection as well as other more innocuous items. The Prisoner interjects, occasionally, asking what certain items are to be used for.
Once the checklist is read, The Guard notes that they are ahead of schedule. The Guard suggests they start and go home early. Prisoner suggests that they wait. The Guard and the Executioner agree, reluctantly.
The after a pause the Guard and the Executioner have a banal exchange about dinner. The Prisoner interjects with information about one of her favorite meals. She laments that she was not able to have it as her last meal because it is her second favorite meal and not her first. There is a pause. The Prisoner asks the other two if they are curious about what her last meal was. The Guard reads the contents of the meal off a chart. The Prisoner then gives them a back story about why she chose that meal. The others attempt not to listen, but are eventually entertained by her delivery and sense of humor.
When the story is complete, the Guard says that they should “get going” with the execution. The Prisoner, once again, requests that they wait. She argues that her appeal has gone to the governor and that she might get a midnight pardon. She adds that they would feel intense guilt if they killed her before the pardon came in. The Guard and the Executioner are incredulous and assert that the Prisoner is engaging in “wishful thinking.” The Prisoner asks for them to give her a mock trial to test her point. The others begrudgingly agree.
The Guard acts as the prosecutor and the Executioner as the judge. The Guard lays out the case for executing the prisoner—arguing that she killed her husband and his brother and should pay for her horrendous acts. The Prisoner argues that she could not have done otherwise. She reveals that she had an operation to address her epilepsy and that they removed the section of her brain that regulates impulse control. The Guard argue that she is able to control her impulses most of the time and that therefore she is responsible for her actions. The Prisoner counters that we can all become murderers in the right circumstance—an oblique reference to the fact that the Guard and Executioner are about to take her life. The Executioner gives her verdict that “it is not her place to judge what is right or wrong. Her responsibility is to do her job.”
With that they move forward with the execution. The guard asks the Prisoner for her last words. The Prisoner says, “look me in the eyes when you kill me, and remember that you once laughed with me.” The Executioner injects the paralytic. The phone rings. End of opera.
